This invention relates to a method and apparatus for programming and controlling a logic board for an electromechanical device such as a movable barrier operator using a two input command unit.
Many electromechanical devices, such as garage door operators and rolling shutter operators, employ simple wall or transmitter command units having only two types of input (open and close). Control of the operator is provided on a logic board, a board which contains the electronic circuitry (including a controller) for controlling operation of the motor driving the movable barrier. In a garage door operator or rolling shutter operator, commands are provided for open and close. Upon receipt of an open or close command, the controller enables the motor for movement in the commanded direction. In a garage door operator, a simple, momentary press of an open button or switch commands the door to move to the open limit position. In a rolling shutter operator, the user must press the open button or switch while the shutter is moving and release the button or switch when the shutter reaches the desired open position.
Many older garage door installations and rolling shutter installations are controlled by wall units having only open and close switches, which are hardwired into the wall. Newer garage door operators and rolling shutter operators provide additional features and include programming through either the wall switch or the remote transmitter. For example, many operators respond to transmitters with unique identification codes, provided the identification codes are programmed into the controller memory. To program a new transmitter, the user must typically press a learn switch which places the controller in the learn mode, then activate the transmitter so that the controller receives the unique identification code. Many such units require a separate learn switch on the wall unit. If a user wishes to upgrade to a more advanced garage door operator or rolling shutter operator, i.e., one with additional functionality, the user many not wish to spend the additional cost of having to tear out existing wiring.
In order to change the mode of a logic board (or controller), most systems require the microprocessor to receive an input in the form of a signal. Since some logic boards only have power when the switch is closed (as is the case in rolling shutter operators), there is no power to the board after release of the switch. This creates a problem for entering the program or learn mode when there is no power applied to the logic board. A system which enables the user to enter the program or learn mode by using the AC power lines solves the problem of having to provide additional components or wiring to the board in order to sustain power just for the unit to be able to enter the program or learn mode.
Several manufacturers of rolling shutter operators and garage door operators provide units which can be programmed from the wall unit. However, many of these units require non-retrofit of a special wall switch which operates on low voltage power, not standard AC wall power (such as those by Simu and Jolly). Another manufacturer provides a special wall control unit which operates on AC power, but is a nonstandard switch (Elero).
There is a need for a method of programming a logic board (or controller) for an electromechanical device such as a movable barrier operator using an existing two input command unit. There is a need for a method of programming a controller for an electromechanical device such as a rolling shutter operator or awning operator which operates from the existing standard industry two switch AC wall unit. There is a need for a method of programming an electromechanical device which generally has no power applied to it.
A method of programming a controller for a movable carrier operator according to the invention includes enabling and disabling an input device within a predetermined period of time for a predetermined number of times. This sequence of short activations of an input device, such as a switch on a wall unit, puts the controller in a learn mode. Thereafter, the controller is responsive to learn any of various characteristics that can be programmed for the movable barrier operator, such as transmitter code, limits of travel, force settings, and so on.
In a movable barrier operator, such as for a rolling shutter, the wall control unit includes two input devices, which may be switches, one for the shutter open direction and one for the shutter close direction. When the user wishes to open the shutter, the user presses the open switch. This causes AC power to be applied to the logic board controlling the power to the motor that operates the shutter. The user must hold the open switch until the shutter reaches the desired open location. Releasing the open switch removes AC power from the logic board and the motor and stops the shutter. Similarly, when the user desires to close the shutter, the user must press and hold the shutter close switch applying power to drive the motor to close the shutter until the desired close position is reached. Upon reaching the desired close position, the user releases the close button, removing AC power and stopping the motor.
Pressing of the open switch or the close switch is required to apply AC power to the controller. Continued closure of a switch is associated with movement of the motor and shutter. To enable programming of the controller using the wall switches, the controller checks for a series of pulses from one of the wall switches. When, for instance, the user presses and releases the open switch, five consecutive times each for less one half second, the controller increments a counter with each press. So long as the duration between press and release is less than a half second, the counter is incremented. When the counter value reaches five, the controller enters a learn mode. If at any time the user presses the switch for longer than one half second, the controller zeroes the counter and responds to a movement command.
In a movable barrier operator such as garage door opener in which the controller unit is powered at all times, the controller unit can also be programmed using the method of the invention. In the case of a garage door operator activated by a single button wall control unit, typically only a momentary activation (press and release) of the switch causes the door to travel to the selected limit (open or close). To implement the method of the invention, the controller for the garage door operator would be programmed to look for a fixed, but longer duration pulse resulting from switch closure for the movement command. For example, if five consecutive pulses produced by press and releases of less than one half second are used to enter the learn mode, a one second pulse from a press of one second could be used to clear the wall control command counter and activate door movement in the desired direction.
Instead of a standard two button wall control unit, some movable barriers have a single switch with three states: up, down, not traveling. The method described above is equally applicable. An advantage of the invention is that no additional wiring is needed for existing installations. All modifications are accomplished in the controller either in circuitry or software.
If the movable barrier operator includes a receiver for receiving commands from a remote transmitter, the method can also be used. Instead of activating the wall switch the predetermined number and duration of wall control pulses generated by presses and releases, the user would activate the transmitter button the same number and duration of time.
In many applications where the mode of the controller or logic board must be programmed by an external system, such as by pushing a button, through a software interface, or via a physical change in the surrounding environment, etc., programming the controller from AC power line eases the programming scheme for the user, the installer and the manufacturer.
In a further embodiment, the AC power line may also be used to transmit operation instructions to a movable barrier operator. For example, group control,of a plurality of rolling shutters may be achieved by using the controller or logic board of the rolling shutter unit to monitor the power line for, and receive, a series of binary digits generated by the activation and release of one of the wall control input switches. More particularly, the wall control input switch can be used to toggle the power line on and off to generate a series of binary ones and zeros, (e.g., power on is a binary one or high signal, and power off is a binary zero or low signal). Upon receipt of such a series of ones and zeros, the controller can decode the binary data and perform the function or operation attributed to such input. In order to limit the risk of accidental data reception, the controller can be designed so that only activations within a defined period of time that last for a duration of time less than the normal motor operation command will trigger the controllers performance of a particular function or operation. In order to achieve group control of a plurality of rolling shutters, the wall switch may be activated five times with each activation being within three hundred milliseconds of another, and the duration of the activation being below the half second of activation which causes the controller to operate the motor in a specified direction. The number of activations it takes to enter a particular mode of operation is not critical. For example, the learn mode may be entered upon seven activations of the input switch. In some instances, a uniform number of switch activations may be used to perform different operations. For instance, there may be no need to have the learn mode occur after five switch activations and the reset mode after nine switch activations. Therefore, the controller would both reset the movable barrier operator and enter a learn mode together after seven activations of the input switch.
Similarly, other embodiments of the invention would include entering the movable barrier operator into a lock mode after twenty activations of the input switch. Such a mode of operation would allow the user to lock movement of the movable barrier until the release mode is entered. The release mode can be entered by simply activating the input switch twenty more times. A memory clear mode could be entered by activating the input switch fifty times. Such a mode of operation would allow a user to clear all memory of such things as up limits and down limits in a rolling shutter.